Cal Am still expects mid-2018 desal plant finish

Monterey >> California American Water officials still believe they can finish the proposed north Marina desalination plant by mid-2018 despite delays.

But Monterey Peninsula water officials expressed skepticism about the latest schedule presented to the project oversight committee this week.

Cal Am also reported to the oversight committee that early results from a series of bore holes aimed at evaluating the hydrogeology and water quality of potential desal plant feeder water intake sites were "positive" at two key sites, including the preferred Cemex plant location. At the same time, Cal Am argued for further exploration of an alternative test well site at Potrero Road in case the Cemex site fails.

The committee also approved an independent evaluation of the project plans, including public input, which is considered a key part of the effort to control project costs.

At Monday's project oversight committee meeting, Cal Am engineering manager Ian Crooks presented a project schedule that anticipated completion and full-scale operation of the desal plant by June 2018, about a year and a half after the state-ordered cutback in pumping from the Carmel River takes full effect. The schedule called for a series of key project-related approvals over the latter half of this year and throughout 2015. They would range from state Coastal Commission approval of critical slant test wells by November and state Public Utilities Commission approval of the project's environmental impact report and permit to Coastal Commission approval of the project EIR by November next year.

Peninsula water authority executive director Jim Cullem called the schedule a "de facto optimistic" projection given project delays thus far and suggesting that Cal Am should identify it as such. Cullem had earlier suggested the desal plant likely wouldn't be finished until the end of 2018, largely due to a CPUC judge's ruling that postponed release of the project EIR about six months, as well as delays in getting approval for the project's test wells.

Supervisor Dave Potter, a project oversight committee member, said Cal Am's assumption the Coastal Commission would approve the project so quickly was unlikely. Potter, a former member of the commission, said the back and forth between the commission and an applicant is a "protracted process" that typically includes a conversation about potential project alternatives.

Crooks said Cal Am and its desal project design-build firm, CDM Smith, were able to "compress" some of the leeway in the previous project schedule, and were thus able to reduce the potential delay to three months instead of six.

Meanwhile, Crooks reported preliminary bore hole testing results suggested that both the Cemex and Potrero Road sites could work as desal plant intake well locations, both in the underground soil content and the water quality. But he cautioned the bore hole water is not the same quality as that to be pumped through the slant wells. A third site at Moss Landing will likely not work, Crooks said.

The bore hole data, which is part of a hydrogeological study called for by the state water board and the project settlement agreement, will be a key element of the project EIR and in determining the potential impact of continuous pumping for the desal plant on the Salinas Valley water basin because the test wells data is not expected to be included in the study. Area farmers have expressed concern that the pumping will increase seawater intrusion.

Crooks on Monday argued for spending up to $500,000 on "contingency" test wells at Potrero Road in case the Cemex site proves to be unworkable and promised to take a closer look at the costs of such an endeavor after committee members expressed reservations.

Also Monday, the committee approved a plan for the water authority or the Peninsula water management district to hire a consulting firm, at Cal Am's expense, to conduct a "value engineering" review of CDM Smith's desal plant design. The review would be conducted June 23-27, and Carmel mayor Jason Burnett, the committee chairman, said he hopes the process will result in additional capital or operating savings on the project.